Issues You May Know, 21 March 2025.
A list of things you might want to know about - or write your reps about.
The postal service should be expanded, not downsized.
Farewell to the US Postal Service – more than 10,000 employees will be laid off following the agreement signed with DOGE by Laura M. 03/20/2025 A season full of twists is coming to the United States, as the United States Postal Service (USPS) has confirmed that more than 10,000 employees will be laid off as part of a plan to cut costs and address the financial crisis. This downsizing comes alongside an agreement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an entity led by Elon Musk. Supposedly, this measure aims to optimize public spending in the country, like many other initiatives being implemented, but the announcement has not been well received by the community. Many believe this could be a strategy to privatize USPS and weaken one of the most essential services for citizens, especially in rural and remote areas.
My letter to reps:
I want the postal service to remain the U.S. postal service and continue serving the people with mail delivery without regard for profitability. The USPS should be expanded in government services and never privatized. The USPS was founded and well into the 1800s operated as a heavily subsidized news and information dissemination system, and it could do that again for the benefit of us all.
Feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.
THE POSTAL SERVICE IS A PUBLIC SERVICE W/ CHLOE HUMBERT! The Letterhack - Streamed live on Mar 4, 2025
The postal service is a public service. Privatizing the U.S. Postal Service is a bad idea - it's not about profit, and it shouldn't be. Chloe Humbert Feb 21, 2025
Elon Musk says he's doing a "corporate takeover" of America... via the postal service. Elon Musk appears to be potentially looking to seize total control over free communication in America, especially rural America. Chloe Humbert Mar 06, 2025
Rob Bresnahan's comms director defamed constituents in order to make excuses for not having a public town hall in the district.
Indivisible's Ezra Levin has pointed out that Republicans will do tele town halls because then they can tightly control who can speak. So of course: U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan has announced he’s holding a “Telephone Town Hall” on Facebook at 5:30 p.m. March 25.
Bresnahan holding ‘Telephone Town Hall’ on Facebook - By Michael P. Buffer | The Citizens' Voice UPDATED: March 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM EDT “In 10 days, Representative Bresnahan will host thousands of constituents in the first congressional Town Hall this district has seen in over four years,” Bresnahan Communications Director Hannah Pope said in an email. “The purpose of a town hall is to hear from all constituents. Rep. Bresnahan looks forward to a productive conversation with constituents who have genuine questions.” (...) “We don’t answer to the DNC, nor will we give a platform to a bunch of extremist political operatives looking to throw a public temper tantrum,” Pope said.
Hannah Pope needs to be fired for defamation of constituents. To suggest that people worried about losing access to lifesaving medications, scared of losing their house because of missed Social Security payments, or concerned about having their parents and grandparents expelled from nursing homes when the Medicaid is cut off… people worried about these things are, to Rob Bresnahan's communications director, the same as toddlers having a fit. I can't think of anything more grossly inappropriate than to claim that your constituents are Democratic National Committee paid actors faking "temper tantrums" just to avoid real constituents he's supposed to be representing. And here's the thing, representatives are supposed to represent all the constituents, not just the Republicans. Take it from me, Democrat Matt Cartwright catered to conservatives more than he did his own voters. It seems like both parties seem to think that "democrats" (whatever that means to them) are not "real" constituents.
Post X News - Two Pennsylvania Republicans targeted in Democrats’ national town hall strategy March 15, 2025 Democrats will target some of the most vulnerable Republican House members in the first batch of town halls during the congressional recess scheduled from Friday to March 24. In addition to Nunn and Bacon, the incumbents in those districts are: Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Rep. Gabe Evans of Colorado, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Rep. John James of Michigan, Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri and Reps. Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania. The Democratic groups intend to hold similar events “in states across the country,” according to the statement.
Slashing staff at Social Security has really serious consequences that will hit senior citizens most, but nobody's going to happy about this.
The Seattle Times - Here’s a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle, with plenty to say - March 15, 2025 Johnson is 82 and still kicking. Yet sometime last month, someone or something led Social Security to both tag him as dead and start clawing back his benefits. (...) “There’s nothing you need to do — we’ve deducted the funds from LEONARD A. JOHNSON’s account.” Uh oh. It itemized how $5,201 had been stricken from their bank account, on the grounds that Ned wasn’t justified to get those benefits — because he was dead. That was for payments he’d received in December and January. (...) What followed was a nearly three-week battle to resurrect himself. He called Social Security two or three times a day for two weeks, with each call put on hold and then eventually disconnected. Finally someone answered and gave him an appointment for March 13. Then he got a call delaying that to March 24. In a huff, he went to the office on the ninth floor of the Henry Jackson Federal Building downtown. It’s one of the buildings proposed to be closed under what the AP called “a frenetic and error-riddled push by Elon Musk’s budget-cutting advisers.” It was like a Depression-era scene, he said, with a queue 50-deep jockeying for the attentions of two tellers. The employees were kind but beleaguered.
If I were receiving Social Security by direct deposit, I would a have a talk with my bank about what they would do to verify my death before stealing my money out of my accounts. Surely the bank could have required a death certificate? I would think about transferring the deposited funds to another bank shortly after receipt.
I expect more stories like this hitting the news, and attempts to normalize or justify it. Fox News is already starting a propaganda machine to create narratives to convince your Republican voter neighbors to believe that having their Social Security slashed is good and "cutting the fat" and something they need to just accept. And that the auditors and investigators that already existed who actually use forensic accountants should be replaced with Elon Musk's dog crew of hackers.
MAGA slowly changing to "cutting Social Security is GOOD!" David Pakman Show - Mar 15, 2025
They're also starting the "jobless loser protesters" tropes to claim that people who oppose cuts to social security are "lazy and unemployed". And I think they're grossly misreading the room.
These days there's pretty much no shame in being unemployed anymore after we've been through 2 huge financial disasters in just over a decade, and on top of that gig work with variable schedules are more normalized than ever. And that's besides the fact that nurses, doctors, and all sorts of people work night shifts and whatever else. We all know this nowadays this isn't 1995. But besides that, a lot of people worried about Social Security that protest may actually be legitimate and rightful recipients of it as well. Being jobless for whatever reason isn't shameful. Calling people "losers" because they're "jobless" seniors, disabled people, or children, is what's shameful. But this is apparently what they mean by "war on woke" - they mean Social Security. They mean seniors. They mean disabled. Some who are already feeling it. The problems are already happening.
The New Republic - Hafiz Rashid / March 17, 2025 Trump Memo Reveals Plan to Throw Social Security Into Chaos An internal document from the Social Security Administration warned staff there would be a “strain” on resources. The changes include requiring that people seeking benefits provide proof of identity over the internet for benefit claims made over the phone. If someone is “unable to utilize the internet ID proofing, customers will be required to visit a field office to provide in-person identity documentation.” Right now, Social Security claims and identity verification can be done over the phone thanks to staffers answering calls on its toll-free number. Actual fraud is rare, because people have to provide multiple pieces of personal information, checked against medical records, bank statements, pay stubs, and tax returns, depending on the type of claim. Beyond that, if there are any discrepancies, an applicant might have to mail their birth certificate to the agency. This entire process allows people who are elderly or disabled, and thus have difficulty accessing the internet or visiting a physical office, to apply for and collect Social Security benefits
What the heck is wrong with Dave Mccormick?
I thought this guy was supposed to be the straight-laced finance business mogul guy. But he sent me this in a letter to probably in reply to one of my complaints about the Elon Musk ransacking.
SENATOR DAVE MCCORMICK (R-PA): President Trump promised to shake up Washington and rein in the federal bureaucracy. With our federal budget running an annual deficit of nearly $2 trillion, we must take action to reduce unnecessary spending. I applaud the President’s efforts to deliver on that promise by initiating a review of agency programs to determine the best uses of taxpayer dollars.
Who does he think he's kidding? This is bonkers.
And maybe just try taxing moguls more like Dave Mccormick. (It'd be easier if they weren't the ones in there writing the laws to benefit themselves!)
(full text of letter)
Anti-vax influencer targets veterinarians and Catholics.
This is a most bizarre leak.
McGill University Office for Science and Society - Exclusive Videos Show Dr. Joe Mercola’s Dangerous Ideas Whipped up by Alleged Medium Influential anti-vaxxer and supplement salesman Joe Mercola wants veterinarians killed as he blows CO₂ gas up his rear. Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. | 18 Mar 2025 This apparent takeover of one of the most successful wellness companies could simply be seen as a gullible guru being taken advantage of. However, the Mercola Tapes reveal the potential for real danger. On February 8, 2024, Mercola tells Johnson that he needs a partner to help him “destroy the veterinary industry.” His spiritual guides apparently shared with him the plan he needs to enact: “We make this a campaign. I don’t know what the campaign is, but whatever it is. We employ tens of millions, maybe even more than that, maybe 70, 80 million people, and they are full-on on board to protect our pets from the damage that’s been inflicted upon by this industry. They will march with weapons on these creatures.” Johnson as Bahlon not only agrees, but he directs Mercola to also pay attention to “the industrial side,” presumably meaning the livestock industry. This call for mass violence is accompanied by repeated anti-Catholic discourse in multiple videos. Mercola has been led to believe that the Catholic Church is “the heart of the Global Cabal;” that it has one of the best brainwashing techniques on Earth; and that Catholic employees have no place at his company, as confirmed by a legal filing by Mercola’s sister in which firings are described as “the Catholic Purge” at Mercola’s company.
It reminds me of back in the day when the news came out about Nancy Reagan's astrologer. Half the people I heard talk about it reacted with sort of holy shit she's been counseled by some weirdo woo woo what power has this person had?! And the other half of people just thought it was harmless horoscope reading but by a rich person with her own astrologer. But in this case there's tapes and we can see the derangement. It seems wildly hilariously weird, but the potential for massacres shouldn't be waved away because it definitely can happen here under the current regime, and it's disturbing that so many right-wing anti-vax influencers and others parrot out similar sinister schemes historically familiar and which target specifically medical professions and some Catholics. And this toxic propaganda has really ramped up since the start of the pandemic to hysterical levels and has never died down, no matter how much various people in power, including Democrats, have catered to the covid contrarians in hopes to satiate them. This can’t be satiated it needs to be overcome.
Cryptocurrency corruption.
Gizmodo - SEC Drops Charges Against Chinese Billionaire After He Pumps $30 Million Into Trump’s Crypto Scheme – Justin Sun is celebrating avoiding a fraud investigation by posting handshake emojis on X. By Matthew Gault Published February 28, 2025 Sun is a Chinese crypto mogul who is most famous for being the guy who paid $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall. He ate the banana in front of cameras in Hong Kong after the check cleared. That was in November, when the specter of an SEC-led fraud investigation was still hanging over his head. Sun owns several companies, including Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent). According to an SEC press release from 2023, Sun was allegedly using his companies to wash trade securities, buying them with one company and immediately buying them with another. He also allegedly paid for celebrity endorsements without disclosing the agreement.
Republicans in Congress in particular can't be let off the hook on this stuff.
Donald Trump OFFERING PARDON if He Gets Part of Convict's Company! Jesse Dollemore Mar 13, 2025 Jesse talks about reporting from the Wall Street Journal, which exposes private talks between the Trump family and the founder of Binance Changpeng Zhao to give part of the company to the Trumps, all while there is talk of a pardon for the convicted felon.
My letter to reps:
The SEC dropped charges against the Chinese tycoon Justin Sun after he pumped $30 million dollars into Trumpy's crypto. And now Changpeng Zhao is maybe getting preferential treatment for a pardon because of some business deal? I believe cryptocurrency needs to be outlawed because, among other things, it's wrapped up in human trafficking and other crimes. Where do you stand on the issue of potential wrongdoing by this Chinese mogul and the Trump administration shielding him?
Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.
AI doesn't exist, but Republican politicians really want to replace human doctors.
I'm sure not for themselves, but certainly for the general public according to some doctor politicians.
Bill Would Allow AI to Prescribe Drugs — Physicians respond to proposed legislation, saying the technology isn't there yet by Jennifer Henderson, Enterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today February 10, 2025 But the application of AI and machine learning technologies, as described in the bill, "seems premature," as it appears to enable the "actual prescribing of drugs, some of which are very low risk, and some of which are very high risk," he cautioned. Similar to autonomous vehicles being held to a higher standard than human drivers, he surmised that AI and machine learning technologies as prescribers would likely be as well. "My suspicion is that there will be a very high bar for approving these, at least initially," he noted.
404 Media - Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared” By Emanuel Maiberg • 10 Feb 2025 “[A] key irony of automation is that by mechanising routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise,” the researchers wrote.
It's terrible if they deploy these things, which are prone to mistakes. And the other aspect is that even if they’re correct, the actual healthcare workers have their skills atrophy to the point where they don't even pick up on the mistakes. Plus vigilance tasks are miserable generally so just that is a problem to begin with.
But apparently a politician doctor point blank said that AI chatbots should replace CDC professionals. It’s preposterous.
My letter to reps:
I do NOT want healthcare companies deploying AI chatbots or anything like that to serve in lieu of healthcare providers of any kind. This is unacceptable, and should not be happening. We need whatever it takes to outlaw this reckless pursuit. Large Language Models are known to be prone to misinformation output and are a general threat to public health and safety as it is. We don't need this scam implemented right inside the healthcare system. Put a stop to it now, whatever it takes. Lives depend on it.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.
Hallucinating chatbot healthcare tech tools hopped up on medical conference hype. What could possibly go wrong? AI hype is so normalized that of course tech tycoons and private equity think that healthcare should run on hype filled apps and downsizing staff. Chloe Humbert Aug 04, 2024
Healthcare AI is going to have hospitals mainlining health disinformation straight into patient care. Aug 4th, 2024
Lying AI should not be doing the people's business or science. Lives are at stake and the U.S. government and scientific scholars are buying into tech hype boondoggles. Is it corruption, incompetence, or sabotage? Chloe Humbert Mar 22, 2024
A conversation about how power works, how pressure works.
No system can enforce itself.
I'm glad other people are articulating this issue, because I see people often saying "we need a system where this can't happen!" or saying the system is the problem, or that they think some "mechanism" should be put in place to stop things going wrong. And obviously that's savior syndrome hopium, only instead of hoping a strongman or other saviour will fix everything, it's hoping that some inanimate mechanism will make it so there's a perpetual motion machine so you can just set it and forget it.
Of course I would rather say that the people are the solution.
the PEOPLE are the problem!! The Romano Report Feb 22, 2025 "the people charged with upholding our constitution Mitch McConnell and the other Republicans in the Senate refused to uphold their Oaths and protect the Constitution the problem wasn't the system the problem was the people and I've said many times you the Constitution cannot enforce itself neither can any law or any system of government devised by man no system of government no Constitution can be developed in such a way as to enforce itself any system necessarily requires for its enforcement the people who are in the positions of authority within that system that's just the way it is"
I just keep repeating this in different ways, but I think in some sense, people are very tempted to the idea because it's certainly nicer than thinking we just have to stay engaged and work for something. And we've been accustomed to this idea that you can set it and forget it by not just crockpots but washing machines and dishwashers and various automation. This is where I think this bizarre techno rapture idea comes in, where people want AI to be the ultimate authority (or they fear it).
Politics isn’t a crockpot, and Trump certainly won’t save anyone. Mar 22nd, 2024
jamelle @jamellebouie.net March 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM one thing i keep thinking about is how there is simply no way to design a constitutional system that can resist authoritarian incursion if participants in that system do not actually care that much
Trump fired the people who investigate fraud waste and abuse.
Any claims that this new Elon Musk dog crew is actually looking for fraud or waste is a lie. We already had positions that were all about rooting out corruption, and the Donald got rid of them.
THEY FIRED THE WATCHDOGS. NOW, NO ONE IS WATCHING. | RepresentUs - Mar 12, 2025 Trump fired 19 independent government watchdogs—the very people responsible for exposing fraud and corruption. No oversight. No accountability. Just more power for the people rigging the system. This is how democracy dies—not overnight, but by dismantling the institutions meant to protect it. Congress cannot stay silent. DEMOCRACY IS UNDER ATTACK FROM WITHIN.
The group RepresentUs is non-partisan, and I know this because I was involved with a local chapter during the first Trump administration when I was unable to engage in certain partisan activities, and I met Republicans involved.
We know only too well in Northeastern Pennsylvania that corruption is not a partisan issue, it's an issue about what's right and wrong, it's about wrongdoing. And if you're really serious about rooting out wrongdoing, you don't fire the entire slate of people who were already rooting out wrongdoing.